


Ignoble Inks

by Taurwen13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Fluff, Gen, Healing, Humor, Magical Tattoos, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Mental Health Issues, Minor Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Mood Altering Spells (Harry Potter), Moving Tattoo(s), Muggle London, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-03-30 21:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19036015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taurwen13/pseuds/Taurwen13
Summary: Tales from a tattoo parlour in Muggle London that isn't all it appears to be.Follow Conner Ignoble as he masters his family trade of crafting charmed tattoos and piercings, as well as the more mundane, non-magical ones for the muggles that enter his shop.Expanded off of a short story I wrote for a writing competition in Hermione's Nook a few months ago, with the prompt about what would happen if wizards had tattoo parlors.





	1. Prologue - Bill - Charlie

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a hastily written collection of stories I needed to get out of my head. It hasn't been beta read and as such may have some errors in it. I still hope you enjoy reading it. :)
> 
> Special thanks to my friend, Nicholas, for letting me drop him in here as a muggle character.
> 
> I wrote this for fun, I do not own any of the Harry Potter franchise.

Bill stumbled groggily out of his room towards the bathroom. He had thought he heard voices but couldn’t quite be sure. He quickly took care of his business before trying to go back to sleep, when he realized who it was he had heard talking.

“Wicked!” he heard his uncle Fabian exclaim somewhat quietly, “Only you would have thought to have a Sneakoscope tattooed on your arm. How does it work?” Curious, Bill moved down the hall to hear better.

“About like that,” Bill heard Fabian’s brother, Gideon, chuckle.

“Alright,” Fabian called softly, “which one of my nephews is out of bed at this hour. Show yourself!”

Bill suddenly started to glow and was pulled slowly towards where his uncles were talking.  The first thing he noticed was an odd, spinning shape on his Uncle Gideon’s upper arm.

“Neat, huh?” Bill nodded in response to his uncle, too amazed to speak. Fabian grinned and moved towards Bill.

“That’s nothing,” Fabian boasted, “look at this one!”

Fabian raised the palm of his hand. It was glowing just like Bill had been a moment ago, and he could feel his body continue to be tugged towards him again.

"It’s a tattoo tracing the lines in my palm that allows me to inconspicuously locate people when I say ‘show yourself’. I think it’s got a summoning charm as well as _lumos_ , but I didn’t really ask. Comes in handy as an Auror.”

“Wow,” Bill whispered in awe, “how does it do that?”

Gideon chuckled again. Bill loved hearing that sound – his uncles were so lighthearted despite Mum always worrying about how rough their jobs are. Bill’s twin brothers had even inherited their laugh, and it always made him smile to think about his mother’s brothers.

“Promise you won’t tell Molly?” Gideon asked. Bill nodded quickly. “Well, we know a guy – his family has been crafting charmed tattoos and piercings for years. He likes to hide in Muggle London and make mundane tattoos for them, but he's constantly trying to advance his skills in new and unique ways. Though lately he's seemed a bit off. One of our coworkers has a tongue piercing from him that’s made to alter his voice, and most of us have glamour charm that can alter our faces. Watch!”

Gideon wiggled his nose, and suddenly he went from a charming faced red head with to a dark brunette with beady little black eyes and foul looking creases all across his face. Bill had to throw his hand over his mouth to stifle a shriek. All too soon it was over, Gideon’s red hair returning much faster than the rest of his features.

“Hard part is that we have to concentrate to keep that spell going – and our red hair is particularly difficult to keep changed. I don't think the trace of dark magic in the spell likes it.” Fabian explained.

“But I don’t see a tattoo on your nose,” Bill observed, “where is it?”

Gideon pointed to his cheeks, “Well, Fabian and I were able to add a few freckles without drawing too much attention. Other people have had moles tattooed on or there is always a piercing. The great thing about glamors are that just about anything on the face can be used.”

“Cool!” Bill almost yelled. “When can I get one?”

Fabian looked at Bill with a laugh of his own. “It won’t be for a while yet. Molly would kill us if we took her ten-year-old son to a tattoo parlor. Besides, you won’t be allowed to get anything until you come of age anyways.”

Bill looked a bit sad, something that didn’t escape the notice of his uncles.

“Don’t worry,” Gideon reassured Bill, clamping a hand on his shoulder. “I promise we will take you to ‘Ignoble Inks’ as soon as you are old enough. Right Fabian?”

“Right,” Fabian agreed, clapping his hand on Bill’s other shoulder. “As long as you promise not to tell Molly.”

“It’s a deal!” Bill agreed hurriedly.

\--Bill--

Conner Ignoble was lazily tidying up his father’s shop. It had been two years since he had graduated from Hogwarts, and family tradition dictated that he have three years interning at the tattoo parlour under his father before officially taking over the shop, but it didn’t stop Mister Ignoble from briefly stepping out from time to time. Being in Muggle London meant the majority of their business was simple, mundane tattoos, but occasionally a witch or wizard stumbled in to take advantage of the family specialty – charmed tattoos and piercings. Long ago the Ignoble family had decided to make their skills available only through word-of-mouth to avoid their talents from being misused, and having a shop in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade would be counter-intuitive towards that goal. Still, they did good business, both Muggle and Magical, enough to support themselves and their almost unhealthy obsession with learning new charms for their work.

Conner had used his time at Hogwarts wisely for this, something his head-of-house, Professor Flitwick, had taken him under his wing for. His former teacher even had the honor of receiving the first of the magical tattoos Conner had crafted. It wasn’t much – a small toad that croaked a musical scale when you poked it –  but as head of the Frog Choir Professor Flitwick had been extremely giddy to receive it.

Conner was just about to head into the back to make himself a pot of tea when he heard the door open. He sighed and turned around to see a vaguely familiar young red head wearing a dark robe enter his shop. Immediately his eyes widened in excitement – he hadn’t done a magical tattoo in a few weeks and was really hoping someone might come in today while his father was gone.

“Welcome to Ignoble Inks. My name is Conner and I would be happy to assist you in any way I can.” Conner bowed cordially before continuing. “We specialize in both tattoos and piercings here. Take a look around at some of our past works, or if you have something particular in mind just let me know.” He gestured to the tattoo samples on the walls of the shop but noticed the young man hadn’t taken his eyes off of him.

“Conner? Conner Ignoble? Didn’t you just graduate from Hogwarts a few years back? It's Bill – Bill Weasley. I knew your name sounded familiar when we were in school, but I never could place where. So it’s your family that runs the charmed tattoo joint.” It wasn’t a question so much as a statement. Bill had almost a sad look in his eyes when he said it though.

“Yes, we are. Is there something wrong?” Conner asked, hoping there was a way to cheer up an old schoolmate.

“Oh it’s nothing just – my uncles told me about this place years ago. I was about ten when I learned about their tattoos and have spent years dreaming about getting one when I came of age. They had promised to take me when I was old enough and I’ve been looking throughout Muggle London for this shop ever since I turned seventeen.”

“Oh, anything in particular that kept them from bringing you themselves?”

Bill blinked and tried to hide a painful wince. “They died. Less than a year after they made that promise. I had even forgotten exactly what the name of your shop was.

“I’m sorry to hear that. That would have been during the first war, right?” Conner asked. Bill nodded before he continued. “My Da’s older brother died when I was about that age, too. He had taken over the shop from Grandad and had done much more study in charms than Da ever did. I think Da can’t wait until I can take over for him – he blames his brother for forcing him to take a job he never wanted. But enough about me, you said you’ve had years trying to decide what you would like, so I hope I can make it a reality.”

Conner noticed that Bill had calmed down a bit as he talked – working in a job that interacts with people constantly had made him very good at reading them and forming bonds. He could see the wheels turning in Bill’s head, and the longer he waited to speak the more eager Conner became to try and meet the challenge ahead.

“Well, I know I want to be a Cursebreaker for Gringotts when I graduate Hogwarts. A basic shield charm and a unlocking spell would be useful. I have a few other ideas as well but I’m not sure how to pull them off like – I’d love a piercing or a tattoo that could help me fight off venom and curses.”

Conner closed his eyes and concentrated. It was almost like he was drawing himself into a small room inside his head where nothing existed except the puzzle of figuring out how to charm a proper vessel for his client’s use. It didn’t take long before Conner began to talk – eyes still closed in concentration as he did.

“ _Protego._ Shield tattoo – maybe on the back of the wrist and hand – swipe forward to activate?”

Conner opened his eyes – his words flowing more naturally now. “That spell is normally silver, right?”

Bill nodded.

“Okay, this is how everything works.” Conner began. “Well, most of how it works. I can’t give away any family secrets.” Both boys smiled before Conner continued. “The tattoo will come up the same colour as the spell itself – I can change it, but it is much harder. Many people seem to think we can color things like we can with Muggle tattoos and while we can – to a point – it lowers the potency of the charm. Now if this was something like a cat that moves around your body –“

“You can do that!?!?” Bill interrupted. “Sorry, please continue.”

“There have been a few witches and wizards that have wanted to have their lost pets tattooed on them. Those kind of moving tattoos don’t need to rely on too powerful a spell to function. What you are looking for, I assume given the career you are looking at, is going to be a much more powerful charm that only needs activated when you need it to. The larger the tattoo, the more powerful it becomes, but too large and it becomes unwieldy. This one will also need to be accessible. If I put it on the bottom of your foot, there is no way you could kick your shoe off fast enough to activate the charm before a jinx hits you.”

“That makes since,” Bill commented once Conner had finished. “What Kind of activation are we talking about?”

“Well, obviously, nothing too complicated,” Conner informed him. “I have to take into account how the body would normally react to the situations that would require a charm to be activated. I assume you are righthanded, correct?” Bill nodded. “Then I would expect that hand would move between you and the thing that would be targeting you. I can then set the activation motion to be merely swiping your left hand over the shield towards your target. You should even be able to do it while holding your wand. With practice, I expect you will be able to effectively cast this spell at varying power levels. I will make it as powerful as I can, but you should be able to improve on it; especially with the time you have left at Hogwarts to practice.”

A low, slow clap was heard near the shop door. Conner’s dad was standing there, giving him a beaming smile.

“Da! I didn’t see you there. How long were you…”

“Long enough to hear what ye proposed for this young man’s goals. Aidan Ignoble – proprietor of this here shop and father to this brilliant wizard.”

“Da!” Conner groaned, obviously a bit embarrassed by his father’s praise, but Bill didn’t seem to notice.

“It is nice to meet you, sir. My name’s Bill – Bill Weasley.”

Mr. Ignoble held out his hand and Bill shook it enthusiastically before turning back to Conner.

“Now that you are back, I assume you would like to do the honors?” Conner questioned his father, fully expecting to be back to the annoying part of an apprenticeship - observing.

“No, lad,” Mr. Ignoble told him, shaking his head slowly, “this be your commission. I can watch if ye would like, but I need to start letting you to do more of this kind of thing on your own.”

Conner beamed. “Thanks, Da,” he told him, fighting back a tear in his eye. “Are you okay with the proposed tattoo?” he asked, turning back towards Bill.

Bill nodded. Conner led him over to the tattooing chair, watched as Mister Ignoble wave his wand to cast a spell to make the shop appear closed to Muggle eyes, and then made ready to start crafting a charmed shield on Bill.

“Sorry, but this is going to hurt a good bit. We’ve figured out how to nullify the pain of a non-magical tattoo – something we don’t get to do often as it would be suspicious if we did it to muggles and most magical folk prefer something with at least a simple charm added– but the process of embedding the spell drains your-“

“Conner, what did I tell ye about telling folks too much about our work?” Mr. Ignoble warned.

“Sorry Da,” Conner responded sheepishly.

“It’s fine,” Bill told him. “any amount of pain sure is going to beat the hell out of getting hit with a bloody mummy’s curse someday. Let’s do this!”

Conner pulled out his wand with a grin and got started.

\--Charlie--

It had been four years since Conner had fully inherited the family’s tattoo parlour and he had made quite a name for himself through both his Muggle and magical customers. He still spent most of his time doing tattoos for Muggles, but he was always itching to figure out a new way to charm a tattoo for someone. Most came easy to him – a tree whose leaves changed with the seasons, a parent with a tattoo of their kid that changed as the child grew, and more moving animal tributes than Conner could keep track of. It was rare that he got a challenge like the ones Bill Weasley had always brought him. Since his first visit, he had come back for key tattoos on the pad of his middle fingers that acted as a quick unlocking charm on one and a locking charm on the other that worked when he pointed at a lock and turned his hand like he was using a key. And then there had been the piercing they had come up with that by staying in constant contact with his body helped to combat most poisons he managed to come in contact with by immediately administering a standard antidote into his system. It helped that the piercing was actually a claw from a poisonous beast - Conner knew better than to ask his supplier where it came from.

Today he was thinking about Bill’s commissions quite a bit as he had scheduled a time to come in, but had mentioned things were going to be different today. He had failed to elaborate on how exactly it would be different, which caused a number of scenarios fly through his head anytime he stopped long enough to think about it.

At one o’clock sharp – right on time – Bill walked through the door with another red head that looked very similar.

“Hello Bill, and I’m guessing Bill’s brother? Welcome to Ignoble Inks. My name is Conner.” He held his hand out to the other red head for a handshake.

“Charlie Weasley, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Your brother never ceases to give me some of my most meaningful work. Is there something you are wanting today?” Conner tried to hold back his excitement – Charlie hadn’t even said he wanted anything magical, but he was optimistic.

“Well, here’s the thing. I would really like a tattoo that would allow me to shoot out water if any of my charges gets a bit out of hand.”

“Hmmm,” Conner thought on Charilie’s words, “well, first I would need how much water are you talking about and what kind of charges are you dealing with.”

“Quite a bit as they are dragons.” Charlie stated - with the same tone one would comment about one’s pet corgi.

“Dragons, yes, wait? What?” It took Conner a minute to fully register what Charlie had said. “Let me get this straight, you would like me to create a spell that will shoot water out at enough capacity to make a difference with a dragon?”

Charlie looked a bit sad. “Well If you don’t think you can do it-“

“I never said that,” Conner interrupted, firmly but not rudely. “It just caught me a bit of guard. Now let me see here.”

Conner concentrated, pulling himself into his mind again like he always did when trying to create a new type of tattoo or piercing. It wasn’t long before he had figured it out.

“ _Aguamenti_ – Water spray tattoo on both forearms – Activated by throwing crossed arms straight ahead”

Conner’s voice returned to its usual cadence. “Yes, I think that might actually work. Tell me, what has your brother told you about my work.”

“Other than it’s bloody brilliant you mean? Well, he said it hurts a lot, like, a lot a lot-“

“Oi, I told you about more than that. I barely mentioned that pain!” Bill teased, giving his little brother a small jab in the arm.

“Sorry, just telling the man that truth. Seriously though, he told me it’s a bit draining, the tattoos are balanced in size between controllable and power, and changing the color or other aspects of the spell can make it less potent. Oh, and practice can make the ability better.”

“Not bad. The last bit isn’t true for everyone – I remembered a bit about how dedicated Bill was in school and knew he had what it took. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did as well.” Conner smiled at both of the boys in his shop. “Now, about your tattoo. The best part about water is that it is mostly clear and malleable, so I can be a bit more fluid about the shape. Let me see your arms.”

Charlie held out his arms as directed while Conner started to move them around until he was satisfied he had looked at every angle.

"Hmmm...I assume you would like your tattoos to also be a bit less noticeable to your mother?” Charlie nodded. “Well then, you appear to have some decent amounts of scarring there, which is unsurprising given your job. I can try to move the tattoo lines around your scars, but its going to take more pain to get them to set into a scar as opposed to clear skin. Although I have a feeling most of your body will run into that problem should you decide to do this.”

Charlie gulped. It was times like this Conner really wished he could make the pain of his gifts disappear – the times when these charms weren’t just random play-things but potentially life saving spells.

“How – how much is this going to cost?”

“Don’t worry too much about that, Charlie.” Conner smiled at him which seemed to calm a bit of his nerves, “I make more than enough with my other tattoos – I enjoy the challenge of these kinds of tattoos, so I don’t charge much.”

“Well, okay I guess. Tell me exactly how it is going to work again?”

“Place your arms in front of your chest with your wrists crossed. Got it? Yes, just like that. Now, fling your hands forward so that the tips of your fingers are pointing straight ahead almost shoulder-width apart. There you go. Now, instead of shooting out of your fingers, which would be silly, the water is going to move over your arm, hand, and fingers almost like a gauntlet of liquid. Your fingers will still be what you use to direct where you would like it to go depending on where you point them.”

Charlie looked down at his hands, “I could have the power to do all that?” he asked, contemplatively moving his fingers.

Conner couldn’t see his face, but he knew that sometimes his ideas end up being a bit much for his clients. “You don’t have to get it, it is all up to you. If it’s too much-”

“No,” Charlie stated firmly. He raised his eyes to Conner to reveal a fire that hadn’t been in them before. “It’s perfect. Let’s do this!”

Conner laughed. “He really is your brother, huh?” Bill joined in with a chuckle of his own.

“Then let’s get started.”


	2. Tonks - Fred and George

\--Tonks--

Conner was just finishing up a tattoo for a Muggle that he had been getting to know quite well - today he had wanted his son’s name tattooed over his heart - when the door to the shop began to open.

“I’ll be right there, just let me finish-“

Conner stopped mid-sentence as he looked up to see who had entered his shop. Her hair was changing back and forth from bright pink to turquoise about every minute.

“Uh, right. I’ll only be a few more minutes before I’m done. Take a look around while you wait or I’ve got some magazines over by the door you can look at."

She gave him a little nod while her hair changed to purple before moving over to the magazines – and promptly knocked the entire table over.

‘ _Merlin’s Beard,_ ’ Conner thought, ‘ _it’s a good thing I don’t flinch when I’m working.’_

Soon Conner had completed filling in the tattoo and noticed that the colorful woman was still hopelessly trying to get all the magazines back on the table again. He tried to divert his clients' eyes from the obvious magic happen in the far corner of his shop.

“Good-bye Nick, come back in a month or so and we can discuss that video game tattoo of – Marvolo was it?”

The tanned man shook his head.

"Mario," he reminded him, "and maybe the Duck Hunt dog as well!"

"Right, I knew that." nodded Conner, completely oblivious to who those characters were, gathering what he could from his client he could almost understand what this 'video game' thing was, but he was sure Nick could see right through his mock knowledge on the subject.

Nick was already headed through the door back into Muggle London, but not before doing a double-take to make sure the new customer’s hair was indeed red instead of the acid green he had thought it was a moment before. With his eyes wide he swore under his breath and continued to mutter to himself as he walked away, occasionally glancing back to the shop until he passed from its view.

Conner had to stifle a laugh before turning to the new witch himself.

“Wotcher – Conner, isn’t it? I’m Tonks. I was wondering about getting something that might help me with Auror training.“

“Good to meet you Tonks,” Conner greeted her while shaking her hand, “to whom do I owe the pleasure of telling you about my shop?”

“Well, see, it’s more I’ve overheard Charlie and his brother talk a bunch about your shop over the years and I’m still amazed that I managed to find it. He’s going to be gobsmacked when he sees what I’m getting here!”

“I see. And what exactly is it you expect to get here today?”

“I don’t know yet, but I skived off training today to get it so probably shouldn’t be something too noticeable, eh?” Tonks’ hair turned a hot pink shade as she talked.

Conner chuckled. “Well, as I am guessing you are an metamorphmagi,” Tonks snorted with a pig’s nose on her face as Conner said the word, so he took it as he was right, “I assume you don’t need anything for disguise.”

“Ace detective work there, mate. Actually, I was more hoping you might have something that could help me a bit with my clumsy streak, yeah?”

Conner thought for a minute. This wasn’t something he had devoted much thought to. Tonks stared at him with her head cocked slightly to one side as he drew back into his head to think for a bit.

“Hmm…there isn’t really one good charm for this, but maybe – yes! – I could pool the effects of a few counter-curses like the one for a trip jinx, along with a few other charms, like a bit of a gripping charm but where to put it…hmm…and then there’s-”

Conner opened his eyes and with a quizzical look gazed over to Tonks. “How much do you know about metamorphmagi effects on charmed tattoos?”

Tonks blinked. “Bloody hell, I hadn’t thought about there being any issue there. Does this mean I can’t get anything?”

“Not exactly. I would have told you that from the start had that been the case. Granted, I don’t even know exactly how the magic will work with your unique talents – I mean, metamorphmagi are rare, and not many of them have walked through this shop, but those that have have told us about the potency of our charms fluctuating when under heavy emotional distress.”

“Oh.” For once, it appeared the young witch was speechless.

“It shouldn’t be a problem in normal Auror duties – this would have to be severe enough that your own magic would be effected. Normally our clients have noticed that their tattoos and piercings still work in those situations due to – proprietary secrets, but basically as long as my family’s magic is strong, the charms we have placed on people still should function correctly. The changes a metamorphmagi go through already make my magic a bit weaker and, in extreme cases, might actually start doing the opposite - in your case that would mean making you more clumsy - but on the plus side as you adapt to the charms you can still amplify their ability as well as potential to change whether your tattoos are visible.”

“Brilliant!” Tonks exclaimed. “I thought I heard Charlie say something about practice made your gifts more potent, but it sounds like I hit the jackpot there.”

“Well, there is one other hiccup.”

“And that is?”

“Putting multiple charms and counter-charms into one design like I would need to is going to be draining for both of us to do it well. It’s going to be a bit unstable, too, until you get the hang of it, and you might have to come back for me to touch up the mixture at some point. And we still need to discuss what you would like for a scattered design.”

Tonks looked deep in thought before answering. “Can I have stars in the shape of the night sky, with a moon as the center? I think my love of constellations is about the only Black family trait I have. I know the tattoos are supposed to be tied in with the spell in question, but I really don’t want something like a rag-doll flopping around my back every time I try to trip.”

“Actually, that sounds perfect.”

“Wot?”

“The moon – its pulls on the earth’s water creates the tides, keeping the pull balanced all over the globe. Yes, that might help stabilize all of this if I tie some lunar magic in as well.”

Tonks looked at him like he had two heads for a moment. “I guess that makes sense, though I’m not sure I learned about lunar magics at Hogwarts…”

“We use a bit of everything we have collected over the years, regardless of the source. And before you ask, yes, that does include dark magic, but I make a point to warn my clients before using those. I assure you your tattoo will have no hint of evil in it.”

“Nothing dodgy at all?”

“No more than you would expect getting a magical tattoo in the middle of a muggle area.”

Tonks laughed. “Point taken. Alright so how do we get started?”

Conner gestured over to the tattoo chair. “Come over here and I’ll show you”

\--Fred and George-- 

It was a couple of days before Christmas and a light snow covered the streets of Muggle London. There had been a bit of a lull in Conner’s business the past few days, but he knew that was to be expected this time of year. He was sipping on tea and reading a book on charms from the Far East – an early Christmas present from his dad – when the door to the shop opened, sending in swirling snow as well as four laughing young men all trying to get through the doorway at once. Conner immediately recognized Bill and Charlie, but hadn’t yet met the twin red heads that were making their way in after them.

“Bill! Charlie! It’s great to see you again. And are you the next two oldest Weasley children wanting a charmed tattoo or piercing?”

The boys all looked at each other a minute before simultaneously having to stifle a laugh. Conner cocked his head to the side and waited until one of the twins was able to speak again.

“No, that would have been our brother Percy. Be he’s too-”

“-tight-laced to ever come into a store as wicked as this,” the other twin finished, “Hello, I’m Fred!”

“And I’m George. You have no idea how long we have been wanting to come here.”

“Mum’s going to be livid when she finds out Bill and Charlie brought us, but we’ve been waiting for them to come home for Christmas so we could visit here.”

“It’s nice to meet you Fred and George. I’m Conner and I can’t wait to hear what it is you are looking for. Your brothers never cease to disappoint. Now, what do you have in mind? Are you entering a dangerous work field as well?”

“Nothing at all like this lot. We are much more into jokes, gags, schemes-“

“-tricks, puns, jests, anything to make people smile these days.”

“Wait, you’re the twins that opened up that shop in Diagon Alley!” Conner looked over to Bill and Charlie, “that was your brothers? I had no idea.”

“Great,” Bill turned towards Charlie, “already out staged by our younger brothers. That didn’t take long.”

“So sorry,” Conner bowed his head slightly before continuing, “I guess I got a little excited there. Now what do you boys have in mind for me to craft for you today?”

“Well, nothing for our protection like our brothers needed. We were thinking something more along the lines of an earring in the shape of a dragon that can crawl over your ear if someone is talking about you without your knowledge-” began one twin.

“-or a tattoo that makes you look ill when you touch it-”continued the next.

“-or a earring that once you activate it turns everything you into gibberish to everyone but someone with a matching piercing,” they finished together.

Conner’s head was spinning a bit. ‘ _I need to make a point to pick these boys brains at some point. They have some great ideas!’_

“Well, I can’t do all of that today,” Conner told them out loud, “but I can at least get one done. How about the ear piercing?”

“Wicked,” the twins whispered in unison. Their brothers laughed – they were obviously used to this.

“Now this I’ve got to see. How are you going to make this one?” Bill asked Conner, crossing his arms with a smirk as he did so.

Conner smiled and nodded his head towards Bill before closing his eyes to concentrate.

“Hmm…a simple gibberish spell coupled with a translation charm that only works with the two earrings – upper ear so they sounds can bounce into the ear easier – activate by taping.”

Conner pulled out of his trance to hear the twins clapping. “Bravo-“

“-that was even cooler than how they described it being.”

Conner smiled a bit awkwardly. “Thanks, I guess? Let me head back into the back and look over what I have for earrings.” He could just make out what the Weasleys were saying as he walked into the back of his shop.

“What did we tell you?” Charlie spoke up, looking at the twins. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“He’s brilliant. Everything you told us and more.”

“Now that our shop is taking off, I expect we will be coming back here often.”

Conner found what he had been looking for. Two matching U-shaped rings – deep red with gold spheres on the ends of them. They even made a faint roaring noise when you tapped the gold section to let you know they had been activated. Conner had a few such items on hand inspired by the Hogwarts houses and hopedthis would be perfect for the twins.

“Here we go,” Conner announced, bringing the earrings to the boys to give them a chance to inspect them.

“Godric’s Golden knickers – those are amazing!”

“Yeah, absolutely perfect, mate!”

“These are special earrings,” Conner explained, “they can work at any distance as long as they are both being worn. I’ll just hold them and-”

Conner took the earrings back from the twins and pulled out his wand. He muttered a few incantations low enough that no one else in the room should have been able to hear before looking back at the twins.

“Now, which ear do you want these put in?”

“Left!” both twins declared in unison.


	3. Remus and Tonks - Hermione

\--Remus and Tonks--

It was mid-summer and Conner hadn’t been getting much work lately. Most of his clients tended to be on the side of the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and he was trying to keep an even lower profile than usual. Even the Muggles hadn’t been stopping by much – though Conner could hardly blame them. Being persecuted and slaughtered doesn’t put many people in the mood to get tattoos.

He was genuinely surprised when he saw Tonks coming in alongside a grizzled looking, middle-aged man.

“Welcome to Ignoble Inks. Hello Tonks, it’s been so long, how is that moon and stars tattoo doing?”

“Wocher, Conner. They are doing fantastic. But enough about me, I’d like to introduce you to my new husband, Remus. We want to get linked tattoos to commemorate our wedding.”

“It’s a pleasure, Remus. Has your bride told you about how this craft works?”

“Actually, believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I have been in here, though it was a long time before you took over this establishment.”

Tonks turned to look at her husband. “You never told me that! What did you get done?”

Remus looked a bit saddened. “It was back when I had just graduated from Hogwarts. James, Sirius, Peter, and I all got linked tattoos on out chests of our initials intertwined together that glowed warmly whenever we were near enough and were thinking of each other. Otherwise it stays invisible. And now will be forever since I lost Sirius again.”

“I’m sorry I asked, love. I know you were close to them.” Tonks reached down and squeezed his hand gently.

“I’m also not completely sold on getting a linked tattoo with you my dear,” Remus continued. “I was young and careless when we got those tattoos, but with my affliction I’m scared I might harm you.”

Conner looked at Remus a moment before speaking. “You’re the werewolf my uncle worked on! He told me about that one. While we don’t get many, you aren’t the first one to come here. There is a special way we can link you without any difficulty – as far as we know. It hasn’t been studied much, and I am nearly certain we’ve never bonded a tattoo between a werewolf and a metamorphmagi.”

“Then I don’t want to get one,” Remus said matter-of-factly, looking deep into Tonks eyes. “You are too precious to me, and much more important than a tattoo.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m not leaving without this. You need something to remind you that I am hear for you – especially when you are struggling.”

“Hmm…” Conner began, “you know, it’s actually quite easy to keep Tonks safe. If I do her tattoo first and link it to yours there is much less transfer initially, while it still stays quite powerful.”

“And what about her metamorph abilities? Are you sure they won’t weaken that safety?”

“If anything it will make it weaken how much is transfered, though I don’t think the two of you have anything to worry about. The most successful tattoos I craft are for those that are bonded as strong as you two are – even with your doubt, Remus. It probably also explains how your last tattoo also worked as well as it did. Now, what exactly do you have in mind? I have spent much time contemplating these kinds of tattoos without actually being able to craft them much so this should actually be quite easy.”

“I hadn’t been able to think of anything in particular – we haven’t been married for even a week yet and Dora just asked me a couple of days ago about this.”

Conner looked at both of them, a sly grin growing on his face. “Do you two trust me and my skill enough to surprise you? Consider this my wedding present to the two of you. I won’t charge you a thing, and I will stake my reputation on it coming out well.”

Remus looked at Tonks, who shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, I trust you,” Remus told him, “but I insist you do Dora first.”

“Agreed,” Conner promised him, “Tonks, come with me, and no peeking until you both are finished.”

Conner already had a plan in his head, and it took next to no time to transfer the tattoo from his wand to the witch in front of him. He quickly bandaged up her forearm before returning her to the main waiting area and retrieving Remus. After already done it once, Remus’ tattoo came out even quicker. Before he was completely finished, Tonks was walking over to the tattoo chair.

“So what is up with this calming feeling all over my body and soft music in my ears. Is that from the tattoo?”

Conner smirked, but didn’t answer as he continued his work.

“I’m starting to notice the same thing, Dora, so you are probably right.”

“There!” exclaimed Conner, finally finished, “Now come over here, Tonks, and look at your husband’s tattoo. Yours looks and works the same way.”

Tonks turned to look at the tattoo as Remus shifted his arm enogh so he could see as well.

“As you have guessed, there is a calming charm that is automatically triggered if either of you is stressed, instantly alerting the other there is a problem. The music happens if you are close, but you can silence that easily as soon as you want. Touching this heart here-“ he pointed to a small, pink heart above a tiny, opened scroll, “- alerts the other person that you are about to write a note on your scroll. It can expand to about any size depending on how much you need to say, and will appear on the other’s arm as soon as you finish your note. It also can only be read by the two of you.”

“Wicked!” cried Tonks. “You nailed what we wanted better than we could tell you.”

Conner leaned against the wall, mostly spent. Linked tattoos always took a large amount of his energy, and this may have been the most technical he had ever done.

“Thank you,” Remus told him, “this means so much to me. It feels like I have my friends back, but so much more.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Conner bowed, as the headed out the doorway “Congratulations on your wedding. I hope it last for a long time.”

Once Tonks had gone through the door, Remus turned back to address Conner.

“I hope you are right, but with this war, who can tell?”

\--Hermione--

The war was officially over. A slew of clients from both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds were coming in to have Conner craft them memorial tattoos. The hardest were the parents that had lost their kids – more than once he had to go to the back room after finishing his work to recover. The tattoos were draining enough even without the added emotional hit. Still, he didn’t turn anyone down. He knew all of them were going through a much harder time than he could ever know.

He was still a little shocked to see one of the Golden Trio walk through his door.

“Hello, and welcome to Ignoble Inks. Ms. Granger, correct?”

“Please, call me Hermione. George Weasley was hoping you would be able to help me with something, but I’m not sure you can.” She reached out to shake his hand, being careful to keep her robe covering her arm.

“Okay, Hermione, what is it that you would like me to craft for you?”

“Well, it’s not so much something I would like you to craft as it is I’d like to see if you could fix something someone else has done.”

“Oh?” Conner asked, intrigued. “I will see what I can do. May I see what you would like changed?”

Hermione winced before grabbing the cuff of her sleeve and jerking it up past her elbow.

“Oh my poor child,” whispered Conner, “who did this to you?”

“Bellatrix,” Hermione whimpered, “it was a cursed blade, so I’m not sure anything could be done to fix it.”

“Maybe,” admitted Conner, “but not necessarily. If nothing else, I can cover the area around the scar. Would that make it less painful for you to look at it?”

“Who said anything about it being painful?” asked Hermione defensively.

“It’s all right,” he assured her, “this is a safe place. I noticed how you checked to make sure your arm was covered when we shook hands, as well as the hesitation right before showing me. May I touch your arm and place my wand on it to observe the magic inside it?”

After a moment, Hermione nodded and slowly reached her arm out. Conner gently pulled it towards him and placed both his wand and two fingers on his left hand over the offending mark. Closing his eyes, he blocked out everything except the scar in front of him, discerning what dark charms had been placed on it. After a moment he stepped back, breathing hard.

“Are you okay?” asked Hermione. “was the magic that bad?”

“I’m fine,” reassured Conner once he caught his breath. “it wasn’t the magic in your arm, it was the spell I had to use to check it that was so draining. I’m actually not unfamiliar with dark magic. You would probably be surprised to learn my family does learn how to use it effectively in our work, we just don’t do so very often. It comes in handy at times like this,” he gestured towards her arm, “because I’m not completely sure I could have isolated as much of the curse as I have without that familiarity.”

Hermione took a step back as he spoke.

“I swear I have rarely used those talents to craft something, and when I have it was with total disclosure with my clients. Most of that work was used by Aurors that needed specially crafted wards that only work against dark magics with a bit of it tied in.” He tried to comfort her, but couldn’t tell if it worked or not until she came back towards him again.

“What do you think you can do?” she questioned uncertainly.

It wasn’t a tone he would have associated with one of the Golden Trio, and it really punctuated to him how off everyone’s assumption must be of these barely-of-age people after everything they have been through.

“I’m not sure I can remove the scar, but I can craft something around it. How would you feel about having the sword of Godric Gryffindor slicing through the word. I could also put other things on there as well like a scroll or books.”

Tears began to pool in her eyes that she desperately tried to wipe away before they finished forming.

“You could do that?” she whispered feebly, as if not sure of the words coming from her mouth.

“Yes, I can. And if you would prefer a non-magical tattoo like I would craft for a Muggle, I can craft it pain-free. However, I can animate it so that whenever you start doubting yourself the sword will swing over the word with sparks as it hits, as well as trigger a calming spell to help your nerves.”

A tone of bravery slowly returned to her voice. “That. I would like the magical one you just described, with a pile of books – but not near the sword of course. That would be terrible. Pain is not a problem as I am sure I’ve experienced worse.”

“I’m confident you have. Will you trust me to turn your arm into work of art, worthy of a war hero?”

“Yes. I think I am.”


	4. Draco

\--Draco--

It was late, and Conner was getting ready to close up the shop. All he had left to do was wipe down the tattoo chair when he barely heard the door open and closed. Turning around, he noticed a very lanky young man with blonde hair light enough it was nearly white – which contrasted heavily with the all black clothes he was wearing.

“Hello, welcome to Ignoble Inks. You are just in time – I was about to close up.”

“I don’t want to be any trouble,” the young man insisted as he threw up his hands in defense. “I can leave if I’m imposing.”

“Nonsense, not at all.” Conner tried to reassure his with a smile, and it seemed to help a bit. “What would you like me to craft for you?”

A little unsteadily, the young man made his way over to where Conner was standing near the tattoo chair. Conner noticed that he was even thinner than he had first thought, and his eyes looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

“I – I overheard someone talking about Granger’s scar. How it was covered and altered, but no one knows how or by who. I knew I couldn’t ask her, but I’ve been trying to research where there could be someone that could do that kind of thing. It’s been months and I had about given up hope. Is this the place?”

“Yes, my good sir. I assure you have found the shop you seek. My family has specialized in both charmed piercings and tattoos for generations.”

“Odd. I would have thought my family would have known of a shop like this existing if it had been around that long. Especially with how my father…” the young man trailed off with a look of horror at whatever those words had triggered in his mind.

‘ _Poor bloke,_ ’ thought Conner, _‘he has to be the same age as Hermione. This is just like the last war, so many young ones…’_

“May I ask to which family you are from? I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Because I didn’t give it,” cried the young man, panicking again. Slightly calmer, he continued. “I’m sorry, it’s just – most people freak out when they hear it, and I didn’t want to destroy any chance I had at help.” After a deep breath and a short pause, he was able to finish. “My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.”

“Ah,” Conner said after a moment.

“It’s alright, I’ll take my leave.”

Conner reached out and grabbed the corner of his robe. “Why? Because you thought I would send you away solely because of your family’s name? Stay, and let me see if I can help you before you leave. I insist.”

Startled, Draco turned around. “Okay, but I’m not sure what you will be able to do.”

“Hermione Granger said the same thing when she came in.”

“Yes, but she didn’t have this.” Draco pulled up his sleeve, revealing a dark mark tattoo.

“Ah, well, that is probably why you haven’t heard of my family.”

“Why? Do you only service the 'good' guys?”

“Good? What is 'good' when it comes to magic? What is 'bad'? Magic is magic here, though as my family has always been careful not to let our talents fall into hands of those that would abuse it. I’m not supposed to divulge my secrets, but there is actually a spell signature in our work that functions a bit like a secret keeper. Except instead of being tied to a person that gives you the location, the only people that can learn about it are those that would keep our work from being found by those that might exploit it. The fact that you are here and discovered my shop without first-hand knowledge speaks volumes to me.”

“How? How do you know I haven’t – I don’t know, found a way to break that?”

“No offense, but stronger men than you have tried.” Malfoy stiffened, but didn’t run. Conner sighed. “Look, I shouldn’t have gotten this shop. It goes to the firstborn in my family line. My uncle ran it for years, until someone came to him that wanted to learn more about our work. Something kept him from fully understanding, but he nearly drove my uncle mad trying to break his mind. We are able to put that spell into our work because it is in our bloodline. My ancestors put it there to protect us, but my uncle was the first to become victim to it. It is something we all know can happen if…”

Conner paused to reorganize his thoughts. “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tortured my uncle’s mind over many years, trying to learn what he could about magical tattoos. The fact that he had to resort to that method told us he couldn’t be trusted, but he was able to isolate memories of him telling our clients our secrets – a slip here, a factoid there. It’s why it's so dangerous for me telling you any of this. He did manage to find enough for his purposes though.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but what did he learn?” The look on Draco’s face told Conner he didn’t have to explain.

“I am so sorry this happened to you, but there is some good-”

“What? What speck of good news could there be in all of this? The person that gave me this thing drove your uncle insane. Why on earth would you help me after that.”

“Oh he did worse than that. He had him killed. But that’s not my point. My point is, your Dark Mark is a bastardized version of what I do every day. And I can alter my family’s work.”

“You – you – what? You could do that? You would do that? For me?”

“Yes, Draco, I would do that for you. What do you say to replacing that dreadful thing with a dragon? Maybe stylized like it’s rising from the ashes?”

Draco just stared at him, mouth agape, like he wasn’t fully able to process Conner’s words.

“Let’s see…hmm…if I charm it –  How about I make the flames dance and the dragon’s eyes gleam when you are feeling poorly, along with triggering a calming charm as well as a cheering charm. You can gradually learn to adjust how much of your energy can go into those charms even eventually weaning yourself off if you ever realized you don't need them, but until you do I can give you a boost with my magic. Tell me, Draco, do you want to be rid of that Dark Mark for good?”

Tears welled up in Draco’s eyes, as all he could do was nod in agreement.

Conner smiled in acknowledgement. “Very well. If you will sit down in this chair I think we can get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I don't know if I will come back and write more - I tried to write an epilogue where Draco, after being forced to not pay for his tattoo cover-up, sent over copies of some of the books on charms from Malfoy Manor, and was making his way through the pile when Percy walks in looking for a brow piercing - but I couldn't get the comical to work so soon after ending Draco's story.


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